On October 26, 2016, Donald Trump delivered a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump wisely chose to speak in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he and Clinton are in a tight race to win the state. After the shootings that recently occurred in Charlotte, Trump tailored his speech to fit an African American audience. Trump declared his “New Deal for Black America” where making communities safe would be his first priority. Trump proclaimed his desire to include African Americans in the “American Dream.” Without looking at the context of Trump’s speech, his message is powerful and would appear to attract many African American voters. Trump gives specific moves he will make in office and how he will work with the police to solve the crime rates in Chicago and Charlotte; however, the audience Trump delivers his speech to is not the audience he should be targeting.

Interestingly, the crowd of supporters Trump delivered his speech to was mainly white middle-aged men. The message of Trump’s speech was powerful and motivating, but he failed to deliver it to the audience he was targeting. Early in the primaries, Trump’s success came from delivering his message to an audience who would respond to it. Trump has failed to deliver messages to gain African American voters to an audience with African Americans present. Unfortunately, this is not Trump’s first time speaking to a white audience in an attempt to gain African American voters. In Des Moines, Iowa, Trump asked African American’s to vote for him, but the audience was filled with white men. Persuasive campaign rhetoric has a coherent speaker, message, and audience. In order to gain the African American votes he needs, Trump needs to deliver compelling messages to an audience with African Americans actually present to hear his speech.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-iowa-race-227474

Presidential candidates tend to take a political stance or position in order to obtain more support from constituents than the opposition party. Law and order has been a topic that has been used by candidates to target minority populations. Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has been forced into a balancing position regarding his stance on law and order. One of Trump’s largest endorsers is the police union. Therefore, when Trump has to address situations of violence, especially in regards to the recent shootings of African Americans, Trump has to be careful. If he pushes too far to one side, he risks stepping on toes of endorsers or voters. Unfortunately, one of Trump’s qualities is not delicacy. Trump tends to speak what is on his mind, and he has had a hard time obtaining the African American votes he needs, while supporting the police.

African American voters are looking for a candidate who will support them and the injustice they have dealt with. Trump cannot claim that he will support them fully if he is also supporting the police union. White, middle aged republican men want Trump to support the police department. African American voters that Trump needs, want Trump’s support of their endeavor for justice. Trump is stuck in the middle of two conflicting stances, and is being forced to carefully balance his position between the two sides. Therefore, Trumps speech in Milwaukee to an all white crowd where he claimed to restore law and order was a good effort on Trump’s part to keep his support from Republican voters. Unfortunately, those are not the votes Trump should be focusing on. Trump needs to use his language and rhetoric to take a stance that pleases both his endorsers and gains him votes from minority populations.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/donald-trump-rally-is-called-chance-to-show-support-for-police.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/09/16/fraternal-order-of-police-union-endorses-trump/

The question that opened the second presidential debate was, “Do you model behavior appropriate for today’s youth?” Trump creatively pivoted his answer to discuss law and order and his vision to make America great again. Trump expressed disdain for the current state of the country regarding the police department and law and order. Trump mentioned the recent shootings in Charlotte and Baltimore and the frequency of these events happening in our country. By mentioning the horrible shootings that have occurred recently, Trump was able to set the stage to make his slogan, “Make America great again” more persuasive. He demonstrated to his audience that America needs improvement, and that he can be the candidate to make it great again.

Trump’s response failed to give solid, legitimate plans he may have to make America great and to resolve the shootings that have recently occurred. Trump did his best to speak to minority voters whom he needs to garner support from. In his response, he mentioned fixing up inner cities for African Americans, Latinos, and Hispanics. He finished his statement by saying, “I look forward to doing it.” Trump was attempting to rhetorically demonstrate his presidential qualities and accentuate his character. He continues to use law and order as a way to garner supports from minority voters, but his stance is not strong enough to create the effect he desires. Trump’s plan for increasing law and order in America was vague, and held no constructive future steps he would take as a president. In order to gain the support Trump needs from minority voters, he needs to make a more effective argument instead of telling minorities he would like to fix up the inner city for them. His response needs to be polished before he uses it to gain support from the minority voters he needs.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/09/everything-that-was-said-at-the-second-donald-trump-vs-hillary-clinton-debate-highlighted/

On September 21, 2016 Trump was invited by an African American pastor, Darrell Scott, to speak about the police shootings of African Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina. In order to win the election, it is critical that Trump raises his support among the African American population. Therefore, Trump’s rhetorical response to the Darrell Scott’s question about the police shootings was a response that would gain support among the largely African American audience. Trump stated that he was “troubled” by the shootings. Trump attempted to form a response that would support police officers, yet resonate with his African American audience that he was empathetic and wanted to do something about the issue. Trump acknowledged that there were problems in police departments. Trump recognized that people who would “choke” on duty should not be in the police system. Trump needed to form a rhetorical argument that would show his African American audience that he was empathetic and would fix the issue, yet maintain support from his law enforcement endorsers. Trump needs to declare a stance on law and order that will increase his support, but he has failed to do so in an effective manner.

On September 21, 2016, Trump tweeted “Make America Safe Again” which was a smart rhetorical move to gain support from his African American audience. Trump’s rhetoric of law and order is an attempt to gain voter support from African American population. In Trump’s conversation with Pastor Darrell Scott and other pastors, his message for the audience is powerful and will resonate with them. Is that powerful enough for the rest of the population? Trump has been making serious attempts to increases his support, but unfortunately, this message of his will not have enough power to gain the support he needs.

 

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/778584630396129281

 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/21/politics/trump-police-shooting-response/